“I’d like that.”
The room fell silent, and I was about to walk away when she spoke up, stopping me.
“Can we talk?”
My whole body sagged as she uttered those words. I wanted to talk. I wanted so much to talk with her, but I didn’t know how to start it or what I should or shouldn’t say. The situation was driving me insane. I nodded and closed the door behind me.
I sat on my bed next to her and tried to look calm on the outside, like the adult in the room.
“What do you wanna talk about?”
She shrugged, but that didn’t seem like an appropriate response for someone who verbalized she wanted to talk to me. I guess I would need to start, then, and hopefully not mess it up.
“I’m glad you’re here. I’ve been meaning to try to contact you for a while now, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I mean, I’m sorry about Mom and Dad, and that you had to leave Florida and your school. I bet you had a lot of friends, and now you’re here. But like I said, I’m glad you’re here.”
Everything just rushed out. The more I thought about it, the guiltier I felt about moving her here. She probably had a good life in Florida, and I took her away from it. While I didn’t want to move there, I would if that’s what she needed.
“I didn’t like Florida anyways. It’s always hot, and being so pale, I would get sunburned all the time.”
So mature for a little girl. I felt her pain, though. I was only there for a few days, and I thought I was going to melt. SPF 50 had been my best friend during my stay.
“Maybe we can invite some of your friends from there to visit. I’ll pay for it.”
Money was not an issue for me, fortunately. I had so much from work, and I had no life, so most of it went right in the bank and sat there. Her fingers started playing with the strands of her white hair nervously. It was like what I was doing with the screw in my pocket currently. Both of us were fidgeters. I found that observation comforting, seeing something from me in her besides looks.
“I wasn’t liked very well at my school, either. The kids always made fun of my skin, or hair.”
Feelings of hurt from my own school experiences came to the front of my brain. I remember those days vividly, and my heart ached that she’d gone through it too. My parents had the perfect non-Asperger’s child, and had put her in an elite school. I walked in to get her paperwork and felt the eyes around me staring. But I was a grown-up now who was used to that behavior—Emily was not.
“Then you’re okay here. Do you wanna talk about Mom and Dad? Or have questions for me?”
The fidgeting with her hair stopped, and those brown eyes looked up at me with what I could only guess was defiance.
“I don’t wanna talk about them.”
Okay, got it. Mom and Dad were not to be talked about right now. Keeping my mouth closed, I waited until she seemed to calm her thoughts away from the subject.
“But I do wanna know about you.”
I could talk about me. So, I told her everything I could think of: my history with school, college, working at Griffin Enterprises, making Cora and Pops. She thought that was the coolest thing ever, having robots as friends. She liked Arthur, and said she would like to see his warehouse with all the art. Emily liked art. She’d taken a photography class in school and said it was one of her favorite subjects. It made me happy that she liked Arthur because I was pretty sure I was never letting him go after having him here for all of this. He was vital in my life now.
We talked about how I was part of the Hero Society, using my gifts of metal manipulation. I showed her a few of my tricks with the metal ball next to my bed, and she confessed she hoped when she turned sixteen that she got a cool power, too. That made me laugh—it was cool, but it was hard at times, too. But we could discuss it if and when the time came. All I knew is that I would be there for her if it did. No one should go through their transition alone.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Arthur
The girls ended up talking all morning.
I’d woken up to the tales of Gwendolyn’s past and sat by the door to listen. She’d told me most of these things, so I didn’t feel like I was eavesdropping. I’d mostly stayed there because I loved listening to her talk and was appreciating the easy connection she seemed to make with her sister.
After a while, I decided to make everyone some breakfast and delivered it to their bedroom so they could continue talking. Of course, I got dragged into the conversation, but that was fine with me.
The air in the room felt easier than before. Gwendolyn seemed to have relaxed around Emily, and Emily seemed to be genuinely interested in knowing about her new sister.
The things Emily wanted to keep from her previous home were in two large suitcases next to the bed. One would think that she would have wanted to bring everything, but she’d told them that was all she needed.
Closer to lunchtime, I needed to go check on Teddy and my artwork at home, so I left the girls to get to know each other more and took care of business.
